Ndi Moyo | The Place Giving Lifehttp://www.ndimoyo.org
The Place Giving LifeTue, 10 Sep 2019 11:44:56 +0000en-US
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1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.2.3Corporate Social Investments in the Place Giving Lifehttp://www.ndimoyo.org/2019/06/05/corporate-social-investments-in-the-place-giving-life/
http://www.ndimoyo.org/2019/06/05/corporate-social-investments-in-the-place-giving-life/#respondWed, 05 Jun 2019 10:48:25 +0000http://new.ndimoyo.org/?p=3246On Friday, 23rd March 2018, NDIMOYO Palliative Care Centre hosted an open day, which was aimed to give the corporate world a platform, from which to gain a greater insight into the outstanding palliative care provision at its Centre. The event was strictly by invitation under the theme ‘’Bringing Corporative Social Investments in the place giving life”, and was graced by the Minister of Health – Hon Atupele Muluzi, as the Guest of Honour.

The day started with the tour around the centre led by the Founder – Lucy Kishindo Finch. The invited guests visited the administration office, medicinal garden, demonstration garden, new clinic, dome, and meditation room.

Among other invited guests were Ambassadors from the diplomatic world, Country Representatives from UN Agencies, Country Directors from International Organizations, Chief Executive Officers from the Corporate world, and senior government officials from the Ministry of Health.

In his remarks as the Guest of Honour, Minister of Health and Population Services, Hon. Atupele Muluzi, focused on the need for all to die with dignity and have a pain-free death, the importance palliative care has in that role, and the value of NDIMOYO’s initiative to develop palliative care services within Malawi. He said the government is doing everything to ensure that palliative care is accessible to chronically ill Malawians.

Presenting her position speech, Lucy Kishindo Finch – a Founder and Team Leader of NDIMOYO, strongly advocates painless life for people suffering from cancer and other chronic illnesses. She said palliative care should be a priority, because it’s a human right not a privilege. She however, thinks the exclusion of palliative care in the 2017-2022 Health Strategic Plan signifies lack of palliative care prioritisation. “It could be your loved one, yourself, or anybody. The thing is, we don’t know when it will come to us. So, we must help this service, which gives dignity to people who are dying,” said Kishindo Finch.

The palliative care open day was very successful. It achieved its goal to give the corporate world a platform from which to gain a greater insight into the outstanding palliative care provision at ourcentre. It also connected NDIMOYO with the corporate decision makers, and created new corporate social investment opportunities.

NDIMOYO has eleven years of outstanding palliative care provision, giving support to over 1600 patients, and also provides educational support to its patients’ children (currently over 300 in number) under its vulnerable children program. NDIMOYO also offers palliative care training and support to Health professionals country wide.

As a volunteer (albeit an 80 year old one) I arrived at Ndi Moyo in January not really knowing what to expect. What I found was a place of extreme kindness, abundant love, indefatigable motivation and an enormous amount of determination.

Lucy and Tony Finch are truly a force to be reckoned with – they are both in their middle seventies but have the stamina of workers at least 30 years younger. In my eyes they have achieved the impossible – overcoming the lack of electricity, water shortages, unresponsive telephone lines and daily telephone calls that either aren’t answered, or get cut off in mid conversation.

Add to this list the misappropriation of drugs, blankets and even beds in some of the government run hospitals and you get a pretty good picture of how difficult it is to run anything in this part of Malawi. In setting up and running Ndi Moyo’s Palliative Care Centre they have both achieved not a minor miracle but many would say a major one. Persuading Malawians to change their ideas and to think about extending the life of those unfortunate enough to be carrying life-threatening diseases has been a giant leap forward as well as a leap of faith in Lucy’s determination to ‘make people aware and participate in the practice of holistic palliative care’.

This was brought home to me in a big way as every member of staff (including Tony, Lucy) the Clinical and nursing staff, the office staff and some volunteers (including me) and grounds-men swung into action on the 16th January this year to host Ndi Moyo’s annual Patients New Year Party – a day when all their registered patients are invited to Ndi Moyo to spend the day enjoying home cooked food, music, dancing and presents. This year, 150 patients, together with some of their families arrived for the festivities. Behind the scenes 50 chickens had their necks rung and were cut up into manageable pieces and 5 goats had been slaughtered and cut up ready for the BBQ.

On a day I will never forget I met so many wonderful people – there was little Maria who for some reason took a fancy to me and followed me around all the time; Beatrice who was on crutches but still managed to dance with a smile which stretched from ear to ear; Janet, a lady with such a hauntingly sad personal story, but with a smile which came from deep within her heart; Yasin and Assad, two male patients who were very sick but who obviously wanted to join in the celebrations and I will never forget Madaro, a lady who I thought was about 90 but was in fact around 45-50 years of age. She was so emaciated, but her stick like arms swung to the music and her body moved to the rhythm.

My lasting memories of that momentous day? The unbelievable kindness shown by the staff to their patients, the warmth and natural curiosity of sick patients and the love which was abundantly given to Lucy and was returned by her. For those who don’t know Lucy her love for her fellow man is like a beacon – it shines like an evening star that is in fact a goodness which I genuinely believe very few people in this world attain, but it is what Lucy innocently gives out and is returned 100 percent by all who meet her.

With thanks to Lizzie Brett for all her help at Ndi Moyo and for sharing her experience with us.

On Friday, 23rd March 2018, NDIMOYO Palliative Care Centre hosted an open day, which was aimed to give the corporate world a platform, from which to gain a greater insight into the outstanding palliative care provision at its Centre. The event was strictly by invitation under the theme ‘’Bringing Corporative Social Investments in the place giving life”, and was graced by the Minister of Health – Hon Atupele Muluzi, as the Guest of Honour.

The day started with the tour around the centre led by the Founder – Lucy Kishindo Finch. The invited guests visited the administration office, medicinal garden, demonstration garden, new clinic, dome, and meditation room.

Among other invited guests were Ambassadors from the diplomatic world, Country Representatives from UN Agencies, Country Directors from International Organizations, Chief Executive Officers from the Corporate world, and senior government officials from the Ministry of Health.

In his remarks as the Guest of Honour, Minister of Health and Population Services, Hon. Atupele Muluzi, focused on the need for all to die with dignity and have a pain-free death, the importance palliative care has in that role, and the value of NDIMOYO’s initiative to develop palliative care services within Malawi. He said the government is doing everything to ensure that palliative care is accessible to chronically ill Malawians.

Presenting her position speech, Lucy Kishindo Finch – a Founder and Team Leader of NDIMOYO, strongly advocates painless life for people suffering from cancer and other chronic illnesses. She said palliative care should be a priority, because it’s a human right not a privilege. She however, thinks the exclusion of palliative care in the 2017-2022 Health Strategic Plan signifies lack of palliative care prioritisation. “It could be your loved one, yourself, or anybody. The thing is, we don’t know when it will come to us. So, we must help this service, which gives dignity to people who are dying,” said Kishindo Finch.

The palliative care open day was very successful. It achieved its goal to give the corporate world a
platform from which to gain a greater insight into the outstanding palliative care provision at our
centre. It also connected NDIMOYO with the corporate decision makers, and created new corporate social investment opportunities.

NDIMOYO has eleven years of outstanding palliative care provision, giving support to over 1600 patients, and also provides educational support to its patients’ children (currently over 300 in number) under its vulnerable children program. NDIMOYO also offers palliative care training and support to Health professionals country wide.

Ndi Moyo celebrated 10 years of palliative care on Saturday, 3rd September. The guest of honour Dr. Charles Mwansambo, Chief of Health Services at the Ministry of Health, praised Ndi Moyo for it’s pioneering work. He reiterated the government’s commitment to palliative care, despite the shortage of resources and a lack of awareness about the importance of palliative care.

Dr. Charles Mwansambo

Over a hundred people celebrated the occasion, in the presence of Ndi Moyo board members from Malawi, four UK trustees and other local dignitaries. A short programme, which began after a copious breakfast provided by Malawi board member Samantha Ludick, included songs, theatre and patient testimonies.

Lucy and Tony found themselves in the spotlight, much to their discomfort… They were at pains to point out that while they received much of the congratulations for Ndi Moyo’s achievements, it was the result of a team effort. Lucy praised the NM staff and went on to highlight the important role played by volunteers over the years.

The Ndi Moyo staff choir

Ndi Moyo staff sang songs and performed a play about how patients access palliative care treatment.

The Ndi Moyo staff and patient drama group takes the stage.

During a brief presentation, four staff members were recognised for their long years of service. Nester Kampando, Ndi Moyo’s longest serving palliative care nurse received a watch and a certificate. Three ground staff, Raphael Lucius, Medeson Nhkoma, and Harrison Mwali all received mobile phones.
A tree planting ceremony closed the ceremony. A tamarind tree was planted by the guest of honour, assisted by board members Gail de Oliveira and Maureen Morgan. Nester Kampando watered the tree, symbolically nurturing the young plant.

Tree planting ceremony

First Merchant Bank supported the event with the provision of golf shirts bearing the Ndi Moyo logo with the slogan “Ndi Moyo – 10 Years of Care and Compassion 2006 – 2016”.
Special thanks must go to the Ndi Moyo staff who worked so hard in the run-up to the event to make the celebration such a success. Thanks are also due to Samantha Ludick and Lynn Clifford for their creativity, their tireless energy and unfailing enthusiasm.